Comparative Study of Gender Disparity in The Mediterranean‎Zone: A Gender Approach in The Socio-Economic andPolitical ‎Contexts of Morocco, Portugal and Spain

  • Authors

    • Benjouid Zakaria Research, Faculty of Economics and Management, University Hassan First‎ Research Laboratory in Economics, Management, and Business Management (LAREGMA) Morocco
    • El-Aouachi Merieme Doctoral student, Faculty of Economics and Management, University Hassan First Research Laboratory in Economics, Management, and Business Management (LAREGMA) Morocco
    • Maha Mouabid Research, Faculty of Economics and Management, University Hassan First‎ Research Laboratory in Economics, Management, and Business Management (LAREGMA) Morocco
    • Redouane Azhari Research, Faculty of Economics and Management, University Hassan First‎ Research Laboratory in Economics, Management, and Business Management (LAREGMA) Morocco
    https://doi.org/10.14419/xrmn4x54

    Received date: December 10, 2025

    Accepted date: February 6, 2026

    Published date: February 15, 2026

  • Women Gender; Gender Equality; Labor Market; Global Gender Gap Report; Benchmarking
  • Abstract

    In recent years, Morocco has carried out a number of actions and reforms to encourage women to play a greater role in the country's social, ‎political, and economic progress. In 2004, it adopted a new constitution that guarantees gender equality. The constitution lays the legal foundations for promoting gender equality and women's rights. The program to support universal preschool education and the reform of the ‎family code (Moudawana) has had a positive effect on girls' education. Microcredit has been developed by the microcredit program to support women's entrepreneurship and economic empowerment. Morocco has devoted funds to the education of girls and women, particularly ‎in rural areas, to improve their access to education and enhance their skills. In 2005, the (INDH) launched awareness campaigns to combat ‎violence against women and promote gender equality.‎

    Although Morocco has undertaken reforms and initiatives to promote gender equality and involve women more fully in the country's social, ‎political, and economic development, analyses and studies by international bodies rank it very low. In this work, we examine the Global ‎Gender Gap Report (GGGR) and other similar studies to find and identify areas of weakness and improvement, while comparing with Portugal and Spain‎.

  • References

    1. Brière S & Angeles M (2011), Changements et résistances en matière d’institutionnalisation de l’égalité entre les sexes : le cas du Maroc. Recherches féministes 24(2), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.7202/1007757ar.
    2. De Haas H (2014), Euro-Mediterranean migration futures: The cases of Morocco, Egypt, and Turkey. In Migration from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe: Past Developments, Current Status and Future Potentials, eds Sievers W, Bommes M & Fassmann H, pp. 29–74. Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048523177-004.
    3. El Aidaa S & Sabil A (2022), Employability in higher education: A review of key stakeholders’ perspectives in Morocco. The Journal of Performance Management (1).
    4. El Aidaa S & Sabil A (2022), Major choice and employability in Morocco: English as a case study. African Scientific Journal (3), Issue 10, 359–389.
    5. Hmid, A., Rakhimi, A., Kaiss, R., Serroukh, B., Achy, A., Fikri, Y., & Moussaoui, H. el. (2025). Citizen Participation and Ecosystem-Based Terri-torial Adaptation to Climate Change in Morocco: A Case Study from Settat. Research in Ecology, 7(5), 221–244. https://doi.org/10.30564/re.v7i5.11619.
    6. Hmid, A., Abbadi, D. (2026). Environmental Education Through Clubs and Climate Resilience: A Statistical Analysis of Activation Factors. In: Hirech, K. (eds) Environmental Education and Sustainable Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-05760-0_19.
    7. International Labour Organization (2024), Barriers to women’s employment. ILO, Geneva. https://www.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Employment/barriers-women#intro.
    8. Kaiss, R., Benjouid, Z., Faiz, M., Ech Chahed, H., Rakhimi, A., Zarouali, S. S., Maimoun, A., Hmid, A., & Cherkaoui, M. (2025). Water Stress and Regional Governance in Morocco: Pathways to Agricultural Resilience through Advanced Regionalization. Research on World Agricultural Econo-my, 6(3), 957–972. https://doi.org/10.36956/rwae.v6i3.2173.
    9. Lahlimi AA (2011), Situation de l’emploi et du chômage au Maroc et ses déterminants structurels et politiques dans un contexte de transition. An-nuaire Marocain de la Stratégie et des Relations Internationales, Development Finance International & Oxfam. https://doi.org/10.21201/2022.9325.
    10. Marro C & Pasquier G (2019), L’égalité des sexes en débat à l’école et en formation : introduction. Genre Éducation Formation (3). https://doi.org/10.4000/gef.406.
    11. Moghadam VM (2007), Féminisme, réforme législative et autonomisation des femmes au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique du Nord : l’articulation entre recherche, militantisme et politique. Revue Internationale des Sciences Sociales 191(1), 13–20. https://doi.org/10.3917/riss.191.0013.
    12. Moroccan American Center (2021), Morocco’s progress on gender equality. Moroccan American Center, Washington DC.
    13. Portuguese American Journal (2021), Portugal and gender equality. Portuguese American Journal.
    14. Scheele C (2021), Gender inequalities in care and consequences for the labor market. European Institute for Gender Equality, Vilnius.
    15. Walker J et al. (2022), The commitment to reducing inequality index 2022. OXFAM & Development Finance International Research Report. https://doi.org/10.21201/2022.9325.
    16. World Economic Forum (2006), Global gender gap report 2006. WEF, Geneva. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/.
    17. World Economic Forum (2021), Global gender gap report 2021. WEF, Geneva. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2021.
    18. World Economic Forum (2022), Global gender gap report 2022. WEF, Geneva. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022.
    19. World Economic Forum (2023), Global gender gap report 2023. WEF, Geneva. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2023.
  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Zakaria , B. ., Merieme , E.-A. ., Mouabid , M. ., & Azhari, R. . (2026). Comparative Study of Gender Disparity in The Mediterranean‎Zone: A Gender Approach in The Socio-Economic andPolitical ‎Contexts of Morocco, Portugal and Spain. International Journal of Accounting and Economics Studies, 13(2), 169-178. https://doi.org/10.14419/xrmn4x54